The Masked Cheetahs
by DancerOfDanger
Summary: There's a mystery surrounding our Rescue team. The Masked Cheetahs. Some say they are ghosts, nuisances, idiotic beings. But what do the public think when their leader sacrifices herself to save the one she loves?
1. Cliff Diving

**Cliff Diving**

Chapter One  
><span>Delilah's P.O.V:<span>

'Come on Lucas! It'll be awesome!' I cried, trying to get him to at least reconsider abseiling down the cliff point.

'No D! Do you know how dangerous this cliff actually is!' he cried to me, as I started getting ready to abseil down the cliff.

'Oh stop being such a -' I was dropped short of my sentence by a scream, as my abseiling rope snapped and I went careening down the cliff face.

'D!' I hear Lucas scream, as he watched me fall. I managed to get a grip on a part of the cliff face. My breathing started to become labored. I felt a sharp pain in my wrist and my shoulder. One things for sure. When your older sister tells you not to do something, it is usually best if you listen to what they have to say. I can just hear Zay in my head now.

_'I told you not to abseil Raven's Point, but no one EVER listens to the expert, eh?'_ Well I can tell you this. I am SO screwed.

**DEAN'S P.O.V:**

'Deano! You got a call out. A young woman to be the age of fourteen, was abseiling with her boyfriend Lucas Martinez. But bad thing was, her abseiling rope snapped and she started falling to the cliff side. Patient is Delilah Smith, she's conscious and talking. Told Lucas that she has a pain in her right wrist and right shoulder. She's hanging on but by a thread. Her sister Zay is going to meet you there.' Vince laid down all the details of the next rescue.

'Yeah copy that Vince. Lara, Chasie! Let's go!' I yelled as I slid into the driver's seat of Patrol 1.

'Oh, one more thing Deano. She was abseiling Raven's Point.' Vince said giving me a pretty good chunk of information that we needed. But seriously? Raven's Point? Only the really good abseiler's sail that cliff, and not even some of them are even brave enough to abseil it. You see, there's a reason it's called RAVENS point. Raven is the bird of death. That's why no one goes near Raven's Point.

'Thanks Vince, we're on our way.' I said as I pulled out of the Rescue garage. This was going to be a very long rescue.

When we got there, we grabbed our gear and ran straight over to the guy peering over the edge of the cliff.

'Excuse me? Were you the one who made the call?' I asked, as I came up behind him. I must have startled him, because he gave a start, turned to me and said, "Yeah that was me man."

'Name's Lucas Martinez, my girlfriend Delilah is down there on the cliff side. Um... She has pain in her right shoulder and wrist, and she's struggling to hold on.' I listened to him, even though I had already heard the information from Vince. I turned when I heard the sound of an engine. At first I thought it was the other's in the other Patrol Car, but it was a red Holden Caprice. I saw the door open then close quickly, as a young woman came running over to Lucas and myself.

'Hi, my name's Zay Smith, my sister is stuck on the cliff.' she stuck out her hand for me to shake, and I took it and shook. She was petite, but looked fairly strong. She had blonde hair about mid-back length, but what surprised me most were her eyes. They were a startling blue, like the Pacific Ocean.

'Dean Gallagher, Rescue Special Operations, Unit Leader.' I introduced myself.

'How is she?' she asked, her voice laced with panic, confusion and worry.

'We haven't got anybody down there yet to secure a harness to her, but Chase will be going down soon. He is one of our best abseiler's so you have no need to worry.' I reassured her. Even though I was worried for my baby brother, we had a job to do, and we didn't get to leave until it's done.

She walked up to the edge of the cliff and looked down.

'Delilah!' she cried. The last thing we needed was the patient getting upset.

'Jordan! Go!' I said to Jordan, indicating to Zay.

'Zay! I'm sorry! I should've listened to you! When you told me not to abseil Raven's Point, I should have listened!' I heard a voice yell from down the cliff.

'Stay calm D! Rescue's here, and they're coming down to get you. Okay?' Zay yelled back down. She was surprisingly calm for someone who just found out, that there sister is on the Cliff of Death.

Jordan came up behind her.

'Don't you even dare.' She said, pointing at him, not even looking behind her. Jordan backed away, like she was psychic.

Chase got ready to back down the cliff. The abseil rope was secured to the pulleys and the metal slots in the concrete, from where the pro abseilers, use for competitions. Chase started to abseil down the cliff face, to where Delilah was. Heidi, Lara and myself were getting the harness ready for Delilah. Chase was about half way down the cliff when we all heard a deafening scream. Unfortunately, it was Chase's. His rope had snapped.

All of us Rescue and Zay had rushed to the side of the cliff and looked over the edge.

'CHASE!' We all yelled, he was hanging onto the same edge as Delilah.

'Okay Chase, just keep holding on! Delilah, DO NOT let go! Otherwise, I will resurrect you, and then kill you again. Got it!' Zay yelled down at her.

She rushed over to the Patrol Car, us following after her quickly.

'Hey, hey. What the hell are you doing?' I asked grabbing her elbow.

'Saving my sister, and one of your own.' she said grabbing a harness and some abseil rope. She rushed back over to the edge of the cliff, hooked the abseil rope to one of the bits in concrete. She put the harness on, and started to back up towards the cliff edge.

'You don't have any training.' Lachie said to her, trying to stop her.

'Do you have any clue of who I actually am?' she said pointing to herself.

'No way.' Jordan let out a gasp.

We all looked from Jordan to Zay and asked in unison, "What?"

'You're Zayanna Smith, one of the most famous and pro abseilers in Australia alone. You've abseiled Raven's Point like eight times, and won seven gold medals. You're a bloody legend.' he explained to us.

'At least one of you knows who I am.' she said as she backed up to the edge of the cliff.

'Come on! Be reasonable! At least put a helmet on!' Lachie yelled holding out a helmet.

She just rolled her eyes, checked her rope, walked to the edge of the cliff, checked her rope again, and started to slowly make her way down to Delilah and Chase.

**CHASE'S P.O.V:**

I expected Lara or Heidi to come down and get me, NOT Delilah's sister. Well, I have to admit, she is rather cute.

'Oi, hothead. That's my sister you're talking about.' she said smiling slightly.

I cringed noticeably, and looked to her.

'I didn't say that out loud did I?' I was praying to god that I didn't.

'Dont worry. I'm pretty much used to it by now. Every young guy gets a glance at my sister, they're pretty much drooling, which is what you're doing now.' she glanced at me. I got one of my arms and wiped at my mouth, trying to get rid of the drool before Zay got down here, and file me as a weirdo. Not a great idea, because I got sand in my mouth. Yuck. I was trying to get the sand out of my mouth by grinding my tongue against my teeth and then spitting it over the cliff ledge. Not really working. Zay finally reached the ledge we were on. First she asked me if there was any pain, and if I had done a nose to toes examination of Delilah. I was confused so I said no.

'Two harnesses when you're ready Rescue! One at a time though!' She yelled.

'How do you know this stuff?' I asked her.

'I was away at medical school, training to be a Rescue officer, when I get a call from Lucas, telling me that my sister was down a cliff.' Zay said, looking accusingly at Delilah.

'Sorry Zay.' Delilah whispered looking down at the cliff edge that we were currently holding onto.

Just after Delilah looked down at the cliff edge, Zay lost her footing as some of the cliff crumbled away underneath her feet, she fell straight, her feet dangling off the cliff, while her arms held onto the gaps in the pieces of rock. I finally got a good look at her arms. They were strong. I don't really know how or even why, she was down here, rescuing not only me but her baby sister as well. I finally jumped back into action, when Zay went limp.

I hauled myself onto the ledge then pulled Delilah up with me. It was stable. For now. I pressed the call button on my radio.

'Rescue Portable 4 to all units. Zay's just had a bit of a fall, her eyes are glazed over, pupils are dilated, she looks like she's suffering from some sort of Post Traumatic Stress.' I finished talking into my radio and turned to Delilah. 'Has she ever had a fall when she was competing?' I asked her.

Delilah looked at me, eyes wide, scared for her sisters life.

'She had one about a year ago.' Delilah said. I informed the rest of the team and a harness was sent down for both me and Delilah, and we were tugged back up to the top of the cliff. By the time we got to the top, Zay had snapped out of the Post Traumatic Stress and was taking a sip of water.

Lachie walked up to her. This wasn't going to end well.

**LACHIE'S P.O.V:**

'Why did you slip into PTSD?' I asked her. She held the bottle to her lips, looking at me with her bright blue eyes, from underneath her long eyelashes. God, she was beautiful.

'Do you remember when one of your own said that I won 7 gold medals, out of 8 climbs?' she asked me, trying to get me to remember.

'7 out of 8?' I asked, looking slightly curious as to why she only got 7 if she was so good.

'The eighth time that I climbed Raven's Point for competition, I got distracted, I had a big falling out with my elder brother. I didn't check my gear properly. About halfway down the cliff, my rope gave way. I didn't have a solid grip on the cliff and fell to the bottom. I was in a coma for 6 months.' she informed me. I guess I found the reason for her PTSD.

'Now if you'll excuse me.' she got up, shrugged the blanket of her shoulders and headed for her car.

'Hey!' I yelled at her. She turned around, 'You need to go to the hospital! Get checked out!' she looked at me like she was laughing, put her finger to her lips, as if to indicate that something was a secret.

'I can take care of myself more than you know Lachie.' she whispered. I couldn't hear her very well. She whispered so softly I thought her voice had been swept off with the wind.


	2. Raven's Point Flashbacks

THANKYOU TO xxletgoxx FOR REVIEWING! IT ABSOLUTELY MADE MY DAY! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

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><p><strong>DELILAH'S P.O.V:<strong>

The thing about climbing Raven's Point, is that when you fall, you hardly ever live. I was a case where, I had a brush with luck. God loved me that day. He only put me in a coma, with little memory loss. The bad thing about that fatal day, I was getting selected to go the World Championships, to climb some of the most dangerous cliffs in the world. If only I hadn't have had a falling out with Jace. I would be there, competing against some of the best. If only I had checked my rope. If only I had checked that it was straight. About halfway from the bottom, my rope snapped and I didn't have a good grip on the cliff side. I went careening to the bottom of Raven's Point. My family screaming as I fell. I hit the ground, and then I was surrounded by blackness. I learnt that I was in a coma for six months. When I awoke I was in a serein white room, the sheets scratching against my skin. My eyes were cringing away from the bright light coming from the window, so I figured it to be day. I looked over to my right side, to see half of my family leaning over my bed, their eye lids closed and fluttering.

"They must be dreaming." I thought. But then I realised that it was just Delilah, Nancy and Ellie-Rae. My brother and parents must be having a fight again. My parents probably telling him that it was his fault I fell. I stirred slightly, in the process accidentally awaking Delilah and Nancy.

'Zay!' Delilah cried out. I looked at her and smiled. And then a group of people swarmed into my room, smiles gracing their faces, with tears streaming down their faces. I recognised them as my friends from High School. Elyon, Bridie, Talon, Charlie-Anne, Helanore and Deziray.

'Zay!' They also cried.

'Hiya girls.' I smiled weakly, my energy draining by the minute. I looked around the room once again, but I didn't see my parents or Jace.

'Where are Mother, Father and Jace? Are they blaming him for my fall? It's my fault. I need to stop them from doing something rash.' I tried to get up, but the tubes and needles protruding my skin stopped me. But what also stopped me once again, was the looks on everyone's faces when I mentioned them.

'What's going on? What's happened? How long have I been out?' I asked questions flowing freely from my mouth.

'Zay,' Talon began, 'you've been out for six months. You've missed your birthday, and when the doctors said you might never wake up, your brother got into drag racing to fix the money problem that you got from competing in abseiling competitions. He crashed and his car blew up from the nitrous oxide. When the doctors said that you might die, your parents couldn't take it. They hung themselves from the ceiling of your house. I am truly sorry Zay.' Talon replied. Bridie had tears streaking her face, as Jace was her boyfriend. But this news hit me more than anything else. Not even falling to the bottom of Raven's Point and surviving could have made me any happier. My fall had killed half of my family. Literally.

**25 MONTHS LATER:**

I woke up screaming. This is the way it has been every night since I found out that they had killed themselves. I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to get rid of the pain. I went for a walk that night. Trying to cool my thoughts down with the cool winter air of Sydney. I met someone. Jason. He looked exactly like Jace, dressed like Jace, spoke like Jace. And my god, it was Jace.

'Zay.' he whispered. I was so scared. I thought I was seeing things. I thought I was hearing things. I thought I was looking straight at a ghost, but he was warm. I couldn't go through him. And he wasn't transparent. He was real. Apart from the burns on his arms, I would have said that he was the exact same Jace.

I gasped in surprise and shock. I raised my hand, going to touch him on the face, when the reality of it finally sunk in. I used my hand that was already raised and slapped him across the face. HARD.

'Son of a -' he cried, clutching his now red cheek with his hand.

'Do you know what you put me through? What you put Delilah, Nancy and Ellie through? Do you know what you put BRIDIE THROUGH! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! AND YET HERE YOU ARE STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!' I cried, I could feel the tears flowing down my face. Staining it with the past, the present, and the future.

'I'm sorry!' he yelled back.

'"SORRY", DOESN'T CUT IT ANYMORE JACE!' I cried putting air quotes around "sorry".

'Go home Zay. Now.' he growled.

'You do not tell me what to do anymore.' I said growling, my eyes turning into slits. I hated him so much at this very moment.

I closed my eyes for a split second, and when I opened them. He was gone. I didn't want to tell anyone about what I saw, because if I did, no one would believe me. They apparently found his body in the car that went up in flames. I don't understand anymore.

**PRESENT:**

Again I woke up screaming. Delilah and Nancy rushed into my room, screaming at me to calm down. I couldn't. I needed to think. Think about the things that could keep me calm. I thought about the guy at the Rescue that day. Chase, I think his name was. I thought about him. The way his green eyes were all concerned when I thought about my first fall on Raven's Point. I can just remember hearing him say that I had gone into PTSD.

'Have the nightmares returned?' Nancy asked Delilah.

'Yeah, sis.' Delilah answered, turning to me, looking very cautious.

'It's been like this since I fell down Raven's Point three days ago. Her slip must have caused the fear to return. This is all my fault. If only I hadn't of been so dumb to climb Raven then she wouldn't be in this mess.' Delilah whispered as she hugged me closer, rubbing soothing circles on my back. Eventually my loud cries for help, turned into soft sobs, as the night turned into day. Delilah and Nancy had left when I stopped crying. After they left, and the sun had finally risen, I knew what I had to do.

I walked to my closet and took out some black tights, with black fishnet stockings, black gloves, black fishnet corset, that covered all of my upper body, a black ruffle skirt, a black singlet, black boots, and my mask. For I am Cheetah Z. Leader of the Masked Cheetahs.

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><p>HIYA EVERYBODY! Thanks so much for reading this chapter, I know it's kind of short, but it will be longer next time... PROMISE!<p> 


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